Climate Changed
Trump’s Coal Man Is Racing Against the Clock to Bail Out Plants
- Critics, including producers, say payments would skew market
- Interim agency head rushes to implement rules before term ends
QuickTake: Trump Pushes Coal Revival
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President Donald Trump is on the verge of subsidizing coal plants that would otherwise be driven out of business by cheaper, cleaner natural gas.
A plan that would leave consumers footing a potential multibillion-dollar bill is expected Dec. 11, and Trump couldn’t have chosen a more enthusiastic person to get it done: Neil Chatterjee, a Republican from coal country, who has spent years brokering seemingly impossible deals for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. Now he’s cutting the biggest deal of his career -- and he’s running out of time to do it.